Siena, San Gimignano, Montepulciano & Beyond

Adventures in Siena, San Gimignano, Montepulciano & Beyond

Emma Jones

© Hunter Publishing, Inc.

Introduction

From Tuscany and its gentler sister Umbria come some of Italy's most photographed landscapes. This is the countryside of a thousand postcards, and the images they depict - pole-straight cypress trees, olive groves, fields full of vibrant sunflowers and luscious vines, bottle-green rolling hills and medieval villages perched on rocky spurs - are as much an attraction as the artistic heritage of Florence, Siena and Pisa. But while these cities can be overrun in the busy summer season, the surrounding countryside has more than enough un-trampled wilderness to break your walking shoes in.

The broad arc of the Apennine mountain range marks Tuscany's northern borders, sweeping east and south into Umbria. Inside its northern boundary, shining like snow above the beaches of the Versilia Coast, lie the jagged crests of the marble-veined Apuane Alps and the gentler greener slopes of the Garfagnana. Farther east, there are horse-riding trails aplenty in the thick, woody uplands of Mugello and the National Park of the Casentino Forests. To the south, Chianti and its rolling hills full of intoxicating vineyards reach down to Siena, where the breathtaking chain of fortified hill-towns can be seen at their most splendid.

Sun-lovers should head to the miles of beach on Tuscany's coast and its nearby offshore islands - the seven sisters of the Tuscan Archipelago. While Viareggio and Forte dei Marmi may be the trendiest of the seaside resorts, in Maremma to the south you'll find some of the wildest coastline in the country, its sandy dunes protected from the tourist scramble by a Regional Park of maquis, hills, dune and coastal pinewoods.

Landlocked Umbria, the green heart of Italy, may not completely match Tuscany's geological variation, but it comes close. This small, hilly and fairly untouched region occupying Italy's core (Narni is the country's geographical center) is crammed full of walking, rafting, caving, hang-gliding and climbing opportunities, not to mention a rich artistic and architectural heritage left over the centuries by Etruscans, Umbrians, Romans and then by scholarly monks.

Hikers seek out the Apennines, which in Umbria's eastern margins, become more rugged and soar to great heights in the savage peaks of the Monti Sibillini. Close by lie Piano Grande's prairie-like expanse, and the plush green of the Valnerina, home to the Marmore Falls (the highest in the country) and an eerie labyrinth of canyons cut out over centuries by the Nera River. Water sports are best at Lake Trasimeno, the largest body of water on the Italian peninsula.

History

Tuscany

The Etruscans

Remnants of prehistoric tribal settlements can be found throughout Tuscany, but it was the more advanced Etruscan civilization, making their mark from the first century BC, that has left a far larger mark in the region. Their very existence is steeped in mystery with scholars still in dispute about their exact roots. Some believe they arrived by sea from the Far East, some argue they came over land from northern Europe, while many believe they are descended from the so-called Pre-Italians of the Bronze Age. All are agreed, however, when it comes to their historical importance. The Etruscans formed the first consistent civilization in the area, and their growth can be traced from the original settlements around the Arno and Tiber rivers, to their later expansion up as far as the current region of Liguria to the north and down to Umbria and Lazio in the south.

Part of this steady progression was due to the Etruscan civilization's skills in construction and agriculture. They built an extensive network of roads throughout Tuscany and beyond; began to clear swamps and marshlands; set up trading networks; farmed and mined; and even headed out to sea. Add to this a legacy of exquisite art works, jewelry and surviving tombs and necropolises, and you can begin to understand what the archeologists and historians have written so excitedly about.

But you don't have to stick your head in dusty old books to enjoy the best of this intriguing civilization. Ancient Etruscan settlements such as Cortona, Arezzo, Fiesole (close to Florence), Chiusi and Volterra are still very much alive in Tuscany today and well within the visitor's reach thanks to Tuscany's extensive transport networks.

The Romans

Incursions by the Greeks, Gauls and Carthaginians heralded the beginning of the end of the glorious Etruscan civilization, but it was the might of Rome that placed the final nail in the Etruscan coffin at the beginning of the third century BC. They absorbed the Etruscan ruling class and bustling conurbations, founded their own rival cities - Lucca, Pisa, Siena and Florence, among others - and brought to Tuscany a long period of relative peace and increasing cultural and economic prosperity. This was an extensive period of construction and modernization - roads, aqueducts, drainage, villas, theaters and entire new settlements all appeared in the Romans' wake.

Roman rule lasted until the fifth century, when their crumbling authority finally disintegrated under a flurry of barbarian invasions. The barbarians (particularly the Goths) left the territory in a state of flux until the Longobards arrived in the sixth century, setting Lucca up as their capital and slowly extending their domination throughout Tuscany.

The Middle Ages

The Middle Ages brought Tuscany prosperity as the Via Francigena (the Francigena Road), which traverses it, became a popular pilgrimage route between France and Rome. In its wake, churches, taverns and towns sprang up, but also rivalry and bitter conflict as Guelph (siding with the Pope) and Ghibelline (siding with the Emperor and feudal rulers) diversions tore the countryside in apart. But, despite the constant battles, it was also a time of financial and artistic prosperity that saw the formation of the increasingly wealthy - but politically turbulent - Tuscan Communes of Pisa, Lucca, Siena, Arezzo and Florence.

Each of these powerful Communes had their time of domination and control: Pisa, the principal port, held power for a while; Siena took over thanks to its wealth from banking; and Lucca grew rich on silk and banking. But it was Florence that ultimately came out on top, thanks to commerce and the beginning of the cultural and artistic movement known as the Renaissance.

This rebirth also marked the end of the Middle Ages, and the beginning of the Italian nation, as Florence set about extending its reign over the entire Tuscan region. Freed from bitter feuds, Florence - and by extension Tuscany - became the creative hub of cultural ideas and inventions. It was an era of unrivalled beauty and splendor, to a great extent thanks to the most famous native dynasty: the Medici.

The Medici

The rise of the Medici clan saw the beginning of an era of unrivalled beauty and splendor that shaped the glorious towns we see today - especially Florence. Many locals believe the city has yet to move on culturally from the Renaissance, which lives on in Florence's Duomo and the works of the giants of painting and sculpture from Michelangelo to Raphael. Under Cosimo I, the Medici become the Grand Dukes of Tuscany, which passed to the Austrian Dukes of Lorraine before being absorbed into the new Italian State.

Florence & the Duomo

The founder of the Medici fortune was Giovanni di Bicci, a skillful banker and businessman, but it was his elder son, Cosimo Il Vecchio (Cosimo the Elder), who was the first to place the family's immense economic power at the service of his political ambitions. This was to make life-long enemies of the city's other merchant bankers - the Strozzi, the Pazzi, the Acciaioli and, above all, the Albizzi. But, although they succeeded in exiling Cosimo in 1434, he was called back by the city just one year later, and went on to govern for 30 years.

The brief rule of Cosimo's successor Piero, later called Piero Il Gottoso (Piero the Gouty), preceded that of his eldest son Lorenzo (born in 1449). Considered the most significant of the Medici rulers and one of the greatest leaders of Italy in his time, he became known as Lorenzo Il Magnifico (Lorenzo the Magnificent), left, thanks to his patronage of artists (most famously Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo), which produced the artistic flourishing in Florence and then Italy, that became known as the Renaissance.

Lorenzo di Medici

After Lorenzo's death, his eldest son Piero, called Il Sfortunato (the Unfortunate) ruled for only two years before being exiled from Florence for his political incapacity and it wasn't until 18 years later that the Medici family returned to Florence. Their return, in 1512, came under Giuliano, the youngest son of Lorenzo Il Magnifico (later called the Duke of Nemours). He governed the city on behalf of his brother Giovanni, who then still a cardinal, was elected Pope Leo X one year later.

Giuliano died childless in 1516 and Lorenzo, Duke of Urbino (son of Piero Il Sfortunato) took over the rule. He married the French Madeleine de la Tour d'Auvergne, but both died very young, leaving the newborn Caterina de' Medici who, at the age of 14, went on to become Dauphine and then Queen of France. On his death, the acknowledged head of the Medici family was Cardinal Giulio, the illegitimate son of Giuliano (brother of Lorenzo Il Magnifico). He is best known for his tumultuous rule as Pope Clement VII in a time where the conflict between Francis I of France and Charles V of Spain brought about the Sack of Rome in 1527.

Following the Sack of Rome, Florence declared itself a Republic-city no longer under the control of the Medici. But less than three years later, Charles V of Spain elevated another family member, Alessandro (the illegitimate son of Giulio), to power. When he was assassinated in 1537, Cosimo I (descended from Giovanni di Bicci's younger son Lorenzo) took control of the city. He was the first true Duke of Florence, later made Grand Duke by Pope Pio V, and it was he who laid the foundations of the unified state of Tuscany that the Medici went on to rule without interruption for the next two centuries.

Cosimo I

In 1587, Ferdinando I, the younger son of Cosimo I, succeeded to the throne after his brother Francesco I died without male heirs. Second to his father Cosimo, he was undoubtedly the wisest of the Medici Grand Dukes, ruling with his wife, Christine of Lorraine, until his sudden death in 1609. He was replaced by his son Cosimo II, whose reign is characterized by the political conflict between his wife Maria Magdalena (Austrian) and his mother Christine (French), which manifested itself in both the indecision of Cosimo II and that of his succeeding son, Ferdinando II.

After his death, the subsequent 53-year rule of Cosimo III (1642-1723) was even more of a disaster for both the State of Tuscany and the Medici dynasty, as artists and scientists left a Tuscany caught in the stranglehold of the clergy. His stormy marriage to Marguerite Louise of Orléans, cousin of Louis XIV, the Sun King, produced three children: Ferdinando, Anna Maria Luisa and Gian Gastone. The eldest died, leaving Gian Gastone to take over the rule, himself forced into an unhappy and childless marriage with Anna Maria Franziska.

His death made Anna Maria Luisa (herself a childless widower) the last of the Medici family. Her greatest achievement was the Treaty or Convention of the Family, concluded with her successors the Grand Dukes of Lorraine in 1737, which left all the art treasures belonging to the Medici family to the city of Florence.

A Unified Italy

Tuscany entered into a united Italy in 1860, with Florence immediately establishing itself as a vital center of an undivided nation